


Duality

by AsheTarasovich (natalieashe), Boffin1710



Category: James Bond (Craig movies)
Genre: Bickering, Established Relationship, M/M, Major Character Injury, Mission Fic, Things we don’t say
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-01
Updated: 2017-12-01
Packaged: 2019-02-09 08:01:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12883527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/natalieashe/pseuds/AsheTarasovich, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Boffin1710/pseuds/Boffin1710
Summary: Alec and Q keep their professional and private lives separate with difficulty





	Duality

"Give me a moment..."

Alec hears the rattle of a keyboard over the comms as he crouches silently in the stairwell of the library. Somewhere above him - Q is attempting to find out exactly where - is the wife of a visiting Spanish politician.

"I have the cameras. Fifth floor. The private exhibition room."

"Never the fucking ground floor, is it?" Alec winces as he tries to straighten up. The dark red stain soaks slowly up his shirt. He presses his fingers to the wound just above the waistband of his trousers and exhales through his teeth.

"Alright, 006?"

Q is only half listening, Alec can tell. He is focussed completely on finding a safe route - or at least a quiet one - to the exhibition room where Sofia Collazo is preparing to assassinate her husband's lover. 

Alec has no interest in preventing crimes of passion, but it's more than his life's worth to let her succeed in murdering one of the top brass of MI6. One would imagine prominent figures in the Security Service would take the time to find out what trouble they were sticking their dick into before dropping their pants, but with seniority comes arrogance, at least for some.

"Fine, Q. Just get me up there asap. The place is crawling with..."

Whatever it is crawling with is lost to Q as the sound of automatic gunfire is immediately followed by an explosion that has Q tearing off his headset to protect his ears. Even so, there is a dull buzz when he replaces it and tries to raise Alec again.

"Status?" he demands, as Alec's heavy breathing greets him.

"Alive, no thanks to you!" Alec knows he's being unfair. 

The situation has been tense ever since he entered the building and practically walked into the fucking knife that pierced his side. Q is doing his best, but Collazo will know for sure now that they are on to her. Swearing and sweating he runs at the stairs to the third floor and hopes Q can get his act together to warn him of any more nasty surprises.

“If you could please refrain from blowing up the entire gallery 006, it would be greatly appreciated.” Q snapped at him fingers flying over his keyboard trying to find a better visual of the situation on CCTV. 

“If this crazy bitch didn’t have three quarters of her security detail convinced she is the poor innocent victim here, it would be a lot easier.” Alec shot right back at him taking the stairs three at a time. Rounding the corner at the top of the stairs, he caught one of her detail off guard, retreating, and promptly disposed of him with a bullet nearly between the eyes. 

“Third door to the east should give you access to approach her discreetly, 006.” 

“Think we are beyond discreet already, Quartermaster.” Alec huffed at him silently stalking down the corridor. 

“Well if you wouldn’t...”

“Wouldn’t what Q? Get the job done?” Alec paused just outside the door Q had directed him to, gun extended, before quietly opening and stepping around it. 

 

The room wasn't large and Alec took in all of the details in one sweep. Callazo, beautiful and furious, had both hands planted on one of the glass display cases that housed precious manuscripts, as she spat angry words at the tall, balding man by the window. The man, glass of Scotch in hand, tried to reason with her, smooth as a politician with an insincere charm that Alec had found distasteful since their first meeting.

The Deputy Director's instincts weren't as soft as his spreading middle would suggest. He spotted Alec, recognised him for what he was, even if he didn't immediately realise who he was, and dropped to the floor out of Alec's line of sight. No matter. Alec has dismissed him as the lesser threat and has his weapon trained on the dark beauty.

"Kill order?" he murmured to Q.

"Confirmed," Q replied grimly. "Quick and clean, agent."

Alec didn't expect the shot but he sure as hell felt it tear through the flesh of his arm. It rocked him back on his heels and knocked his stance all to hell. He swore as white hot fire followed the DD's bullet into his bicep.

"Alec?!" The exclamation from Q jolted Alec back to the moment and the job in hand. He dropped into a crouch and fired twice at the man partially concealed by the furniture before springing onto the balls of his feet and taking the Spanish lady out with a shot to the throat followed by a second to the chest.

She even died gracefully, the bitch. Alec bounded over the body before it had fully settled on the floor and stood over his prone superior. The DD had one hand clamped over a wound in his neck that was bleeding profusely. He would bleed out, given time, but Q was already chattering in Alec's ear about the Spaniard's security converging on the top floor. Alec bent down with a cold smile. 

“You would think that high level politics would give a person better people skills and judgement.” Alec smiled at the man lying at his feet, but it was a smile born in the frigid winters of the northern Russian borders. “Should have been more careful where you stuck your dick.”

“Help me please.” At least that is what Alec assumed was gurgled words as he screwed a silencer onto his gun. The DD stared up at him in horror. 

“Shoot your rescuer, you become fair game.” Alec stated matter-of-factly with a bullet directly between the eyes of his mark. 

“You need to move 006!” Q’s voice in his ear pulled him back to the here and now. 

“Direction.” Alec demanded. 

 

“Status.” Q’s voice was that of the ever calm business-like quartermaster. Alec paused for a brief moment to examine the blood flowing from the hole in his upper arm. Soft sounds of Q’s keyboard filtered through his earpiece and the voices of Q Branch in the background. 

“Thanks for asking, Q. I’m fine.” Alec snapped back at him. 

“Status.” Q demanded once more. M’s voice could now be heard in the background but he couldn’t make out the words. 

“Mark down. Additionally collateral damage.” 

"Fuck, 006! Retrieval! Are you sure he's dead? You were supposed to..."

Alec had no time for Q's snippiness. 

"The bastard shot me. Six is better off without scum like that." 

He was already moving towards the door he had entered by. "Now, if you're not going to do your job and get me out of here, I'll just have to take care of it myself."

"I am NOT explaining this to M!" Q hissed, but he turned back to scanning the cameras. "Avoid the first stairwell, take the emergency stairs. Try to leave the building standing."

Alec reached the second floor before he ran into trouble. The call went up when his blood trail was discovered and the previously scattered security detail managed to organise themselves in the hunt for the assassin of their ward. He dodged a hail of gunfire from above by throwing himself over the banister to drop heavily to the floor below. In two strides he launched himself through the window and slid down the awning canopy to reach the street below.

In spite of his wounds, Alec was around the corner and heading towards his stashed transportation before the thought of sending back up had even crossed Q’s mind. Alec pulled out the med kit hidden under rear seats, threw it into the passenger seat, and sped off down the street as he rummaged through it. 

“Best start working on a cover story Quartermaster.” Alec hissed as he shoved a gauze pad into the seeping wound in his arm. 

“M is insanely furious, 006.”

“Well if he couldn’t keep his dick out of trouble and couldn’t keep from shooting his rescue, then maybe we didn’t really bloody need him.” Alec snarled back at him. “M can yell at me later.” 

Alec pulled his ear piece out and threw it on the floor of the Range Rover cursing in Russian. He debated on not heading back to MI6 at the moment but it would just turn into a royal cock up. Better to be yelled at now so he could go home to a chilled bottle that he knew was waiting for him.

There was enough in the med kit for Alec to do some rudimentary patching while still driving, slapping inadequate dressings over the gunshot in his arm and the knife wound in his side. A trip to Medical was inevitable. It was a toss up between that and facing M’s wrath. Or worse... Q’s pissiness.

Q and M were both waiting for him, Dr O’Reilly loitering in the background, when Alec barrelled through the doors of Q branch. 

Q took a step towards him but Alec sidestepped him, to meet M head on.

“No successful retrieval,” Alec snapped. “The package was rotten.”

“That was not your call, Trevelyan. Your instructions were clear. There are procedures to follow, boxes to be ticked...”

“Arses to be covered,” Alec growled, slamming his way into Q’s office and leaving the others to follow.

“I’ll send him back out momentarily,” Q waved off O’Reilly and M briefly. “Equipment...”. 

M nodded, teeth clenched tightly in frustration still trying to decide how he was going to cover this incident and not have the media turn it into the complete cock up that it was. 

Q entered his office to find Alec pacing back and forth in the small space like a contained animal. “006, equipment return and then Medical.”

“Don’t you get snippy with me too Quartermaster!” Alec snapped at him pointedly, dumping his equipment on Q’s desk. “It was obvious he recognised me and still shot at me.” Alec cursed loudly in Russian which Q chose to ignore for the moment. 

“006! Trevelyan!..” Alec continued to pace his office, blood continued to ooze from his wounds. “Alec! You need to see Medical.”

Q took a risk and stepped in front of Alec halting his progress with a palm flat to the agent’s chest. “Trevelyan! Alec, stop!”

“What?” Alec demanded, not nearly finished his rant, but his ceased pacing allowed Q to step closer, crowding his attention.

“Look at me!” 

Q’s command made Alec blink several times before he took a deep sighing breath and let his focus switch to his Quartermaster.

When he was sure he had drawn Alec’s attention Q laid his hand against Alec’s cheek, a tender motion that seemed to shock Alec out of his frantic mood.

“Alec... the mission debrief, it can wait. You have injuries that need tending. Blood loss that I think is affecting your judgement. Please, for me... let O’Reilly look at you and I’ll handle M for now.”

“Quartermaster.” Alec huffed.

“Trevelyan...” Q quickly switched to Quartermaster mode. “Off you pop to Medical. Don’t attempt to appear back here without some bandages please. M is already a tad bit pissy, well a lot pissy. You bleeding all over him or his office floor would not set his mood any better.”

Alec hesitated, jaw set, as if he wanted to argue with Q about it but reluctantly agreed. Q stepped towards the door and spoke to O’Reilly before stepping between M and Alec hopefully heading off another confrontation between the two of them. 

“If you and Tanner would like to discuss how we are going to handle this situation, I do believe my office would be more appropriate for this conversation, M.” Q attempted to herd Tanner and M in that direction.

Alec didn’t exactly go meekly, striding to Medical ahead of the doctor as angrily as his injuries would allow. M had to step aside to avoid being trampled, and was about to follow him but Tanner and Q flanked him as subtly as possible and guided him into Q’s office. 

Stripped to the waist, Alec scowled while O’Reilly probed the knife wound in his side.

“This is deep but it’s clean. Few stitches will sort it out.” The doctor straightened and peered at the gunshot wound. “This one though, is going to require a bit of digging. Local anaesthetic.”

“Just do it” Alec growled. “Don’t have time to be held up in here.”

“I wouldn’t be too impatient to get back downstairs, Agent. M is looking to ‘rip you a new one’, isn’t that what the youngsters say?”

Alec snorted. The bespectacled doctor, with his wisp of hair and serious expression, had the most obscure sense of humour, but it distracted even the most belligerent of agents. 

“Best make sure you keep a needle handy then,” Alec smirked.

M, Tanner and Q had spent quite a long time shut away in his office until they had a plausible cover that could be sold without question, at least hopefully, while the Quartermaster wiped CCTV footage revealing 006’s presence in the building. Trevelyan was still on M’s “you’re grounded” list though. That item was non-negotiable, no matter how the Quartermaster attempt to sway it. 

Q had packed his messenger bag to head for home hoping to still be able to steer M away from Alec for the day, but it seemed that was something he wasn’t successful at today either. Alec had headed back into Q Branch when he had decided Medical was done with him contrary to their wishes. He had just entered when M all but drug him by his ear off to his office to get his arse chewed about this cock up of a mission. 

Q decided rather than waiting he would head back to the flat. It had been a chaotic few days and who knew how long M would detain Trevelyan. Three hours later, he was curled up in the sofa half dosing, watching nonsense telly when he heard the securities briefly disengage on the front door of the flat.

Alec went to the freezer first, rather than coming to find him, letting Q know he was still feeling pissy. Q unwound from the sofa and followed him, pausing at the door. They eyed each other for a few moments, each bristling like an angry tom cat, before Q gave an exasperated sigh and retrieved two glasses from the cabinet. 

“Top them up then,” he huffed, “and bring them to the sofa.”

Q perched cross-legged at the far end of the sofa scowling at Alec. He accepted the chilled vodka and swallowed a large gulp letting it settle like a smouldering ember in the pit of his stomach. 

Alec placed his own glass and the bottle on the coffee table and stripped off his jacket, dropping it onto the floor. With an angry smirk his t-shirt followed with barely a wince, revealing the two dressings that O’Reilly had applied. 

“You shouldn’t drink if you’re on that much pain relief.”

“You want to tell me again that I made the wrong choice?” Alec growled. “M bawled me out but he at least had the balls to finally concede I was right. Or not wrong...”

“Not wrong doesn’t automatically imply right,” Q murmured. He had seen Alec injured before, but this was the most serious since they had become lovers. He reached out a hand to touch but Alec caught his wrist.

“Whatever the ‘official’ story is, Q, between us I expect you to back me up. The bastard was a danger to Six and put a fuck ahead of national security. Not even you and I would do that. I may have told M as much!”

“You told M...? Jesus, Alec!!” Q snatched his hand free and used it to roughly smooth the surgical tape back into place on Alec’s shoulder where it had come unstuck.

“Well I bloody didn’t flat out tell him about us, Q.” Alec downed the rest of his glass in one swallow and refilled it again. 

“You might as well have Alec in full frontal detail. M’s not stupid, you arse.” Q scowled at him. “If you thought to bring it up, he’ll realise the thought behind it.”

“So does that matter, Q? That Mallory knows?” Alec jumped up, verbally lashing out at him, grabbing his bottle he headed towards the garden door. 

“You know it doesn’t. How dare you take this out on me! And you know I will always back you as much as I possibly can within my power.” Q added. He followed him trailing his blanket behind him. “Just complicates it a tad. Forms to fill and an awkward conversation with M.”

Alec ignored him heading out into the cool night air and darkness of the garden.

Alec was hunched on the garden sofa, barely lit by the twinkling lights amongst the climbing plants. The white bandages were stark against his shadowed skin. He drank deeply and topped up his glass again, tucking the bottle between his hip and the chair arm.

Q curled up silently next to him and sipped from his drink. “It was a betrayal, Alec. I understand your anger. And your retaliation.”

“Mallory will always be a fucking politician,” Alec growled. 

“Home soil, Alec. Harder to disguise the mess when things get fucked up here. More questions asked by the Home Secretary because he’s getting his ear bent by the PM.”

Alec huffed. He knew Q was right but the betrayal by a senior in the service stung. “And the bastard still shot me. If he’d not spent the last 15 years behind a desk he might have killed me. Would Mallory still be kissing arse to apologise on the day they buried me?”

“Don’t!” Q shivered. He knew the risks Alec faced, didn’t need reminding of them no matter how black Alec’s mood. He unwound the blanket from around his shoulders and moved closer to Alec, draping it across them both.

“You know the reality. I know what it’s like out there. M does also whether you think so or not.” Q sighed holding his glass out for Alec to refill. “But the rest, the outside world... they are naive, clueless. Shadows Alec. Remember, that’s where we live.”

“And die, Q.” Alec huffed. 

“No. Not here. Not in this garden. Here we live Alec.” 

Alec turned to Q, his face shadowed by the garden growth around them. He started to snark back at Q but stopped, turning back to stare off into the night. 

“All that matters to me, here tonight, is that you are alright.” Q whispered just barely audible.

Alec sighed heavily and emptied the last of the bottle between their glasses. He dropped the empty bottle gently into a large planter beside their garden nest. He’d dispose of it properly later. 

“Sorry,” he muttered gruffly. Q never outright said he worried but Alec knew he did nonetheless. And as Quartermaster he took the situation as badly as Alec, M, or any of the agents. “It’s not you.”

“I know.”

Q risked leaning closer and after a few minutes Alec settled back into the sofa more comfortably and drew Q under his uninjured arm. Q snuggled closer, mindful of Alec’s wounds, and let his head rest lightly on Alec’s chest listening to his steady heartbeat. They remained there, silently finishing their drinks and mulling over the mission, and their roles, both inside and outside of Six.

Alec broke the silence first. “I should plant jasmine out here. And stocks. Something to fragrance the night air.”

Q smiled sleepily. Alec was making the effort to switch off. “That would be lovely.”


End file.
